The present invention relates to an exercising device which is utilized for performing body-building and general exercising procedures. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an arm exercising device which makes maximum use of the arm muscles in performing a variety of muscle-building and exercising procedures.
Because of the recent emphasis and importance which is being placed upon achieving good health and physical fitness, more attention is being given to various ways of providing exercise for the human body.
Many weight training exercises consist of raising and lowering a barbell or dumbbell along a curved path about some axis. The axis itself passes through some joint of the body such as the elbow or the shoulder. A deficiency of some of these exercises exists in that when the weight is nearly directly above of nearly directly below the axis, very little torque is being exerted about said axis, and accordingly, at these particular positions, the muscles are exerting very little effort even though the primary muscles being exercised may still be capable of exerting a strong force at these points.
An example of the type of exercise referred to above is the standing biceps curl for the biceps brachii, that is, the flexor muscle on the front of the upper arm. At the beginning of the exercise, the weight is almost directly below the elbow and at the end of or at the top of the exercise the weight is almost directly above the elbow, so that at these particular portions of the exercise, the arm bone is utilized to support the weight and not the force of the biceps muscle. Obviously, during the middle of the arm exercise, that is, the movement between the lowermost and uppermost point in the exercise, the arm muscles do come into play.
Various cam machines have been developed which maintain a relatively large resistance throughout various arm exercises and arm movements. However, such devices are relatively large and, of course, very expensive.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved exercising device which enables the exerciser to perform various exercises, particularly arm exercises which expose the arm muscles to a considerable amount of muscle-exercising strain during substantially all of the movements of the exercising procedure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved exercising device for conducting various arm exercises which ensures that there is a strong torque or moment of force about the elbow and hence, a heavy load on the biceps during substantially all portions of the exercising movement.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved arm-exercising device which maintains a relatively large resistance to movement of a weight, for example, a dumbbell, through various types of arm exercises, for example, a biceps bench curl.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and accompanying drawings, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
Pursuant to the present invention, the above-mentioned disadvantages can be eliminated by providing an exercising device wherein the weight to be lifted is so positioned, relative to the hand grip so that a maximum torque or moment of force is exerted about the elbow so that the biceps and other ancillary muscles in the arm must continue to exert a strong force to support the weight during substantially all portions of the arm-exercising procedure. In the device of the present invention, the handle of the device is rotatably disposed within a frame member and the weight to be lifted is also disposed in the frame member at a predetermined distance from the handle. Thus, as the weight is lifted by the arm from a fully extended lower position of the arm to a fully raised position where the arm is bent at the elbow, such as in the case of performing a bench curl exercise with a dumbbell, the weight, which is disposed in the frame member travels along two distinct arcs without touching the user, whereas the handle travels along but one arc. Thus, at the uppermost position of the arm exercise, the weight still exerts a moment about the elbow which is equal to the weight of the dumbbell times the distance the dumbbell is disposed in the frame member from the handle, so that the biceps must continue to exert a strong force to support the weight. This is to be compared with the ordinary bench curl exercise which is performed with a dumbbell wherein at the top of the exercising movement the dumbbell is disposed almost directly above the elbow where no moment is exerted about the elbow. In this instance, the weight of the dumbbell is only supported by the bone and not by the muscle. Furthermore, in performing the ordinary bench curl, as the weight is lifted from a lower position with the arm extended to the upper position where the arm is bent at the elbow, the moment which is created about the elbow is continually reduced as the weight is lifted from a lower to an upper position since during the bench curl exercise, the position of the weight gradually approaches a position above the elbow during the exercise which, of course, reduces the moment about the elbow. In the device of the present invention, because the weight is disposed in the frame member at a predetermined position from the handle, a maximum moment is always produced about the elbow during the performance of a bench curl exercise. One of the advantageous features of maintaining a continuous load on the biceps at all times during the arm exercise is that it tires the muscle much faster. This is important because ancillary muscles, such as those in the forearm, are also being used and developed.
As mentioned above, the prior art devices generally comprise a very complicated cam machine which is utilized for performing biceps curls. This machine is very complicated and makes use of counterweights, pulleys, an extensive framing apparatus, and other complicating features. Other prior art devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 734,062 and 2,617,650. In U.S. Pat. No. 734,062, the device disclosed therein is merely concerned with varying the distance between a weight and a handle means. U.S. Pat. No. 2,617,650 shows an adjustably weighted dumbbell device wherein by positioning the weights between the hand and the shoulder of the user, the weights are handled with a shorter leverage from the shoulder than if they were held in the hand, and thus a greater amount of weight can be handled with the device shown therein. It is readily apparent that none of the devices shown in the respective U.S. patents even remotely suggest the device of the present invention as discussed hereinabove.